


Arise

by MoraMew



Category: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift, Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Fighter!Kyoutani, Found Family, Getting Together, M/M, More characters to come, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parvir!Iwaizumi, Rated M for later Chapters, Red mage! Oikawa, Viera!Oikawa, White mage!Yachi, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 01:50:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13560126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoraMew/pseuds/MoraMew
Summary: Clan Seijoh is in need of a white mage. Luckily for them, they just happen to find one.If the mage joins their clan is another matter entirely.





	Arise

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, look, it's the ffa2 au no one asked for.
> 
> A few notes:  
> -I kept honorifics in because you're not gonna pry "Iwa-chan" from my grubby hands  
> -You don't have to possess explicit knowledge of the game to follow the story. It helps, yeah, but you don't need it  
> -The plot does _not_ follow the game's story-line; this exists in its universe, but it doesn't follow the events of the game  
>  -I've tried my best to adapt game mechanics to the story. It's not perfect but *shrugs*

They’ve been silent for too long now. The sun is beginning its slow, slow descent into setting and the high road is peaceful and quiet, empty save for the two tired travelers and their chocobo walking along it. It’s been almost half an hour since either of them have spoken to one another and the strain is evident on their faces. Both are stubborn and both are frustrated, unwilling to broach the argument stretching between them like a clingy companion.  
  
But finally- _finally-_ one grits his teeth and pushes asides his dogged stubbornness, breaks the silence after a deep breath.   
  
“We need a mage.”   
  
“ _I_ am a mage, Iwa-chan.”   
  
The response is immediate and one that cracks like a whip, shatters the air further with irritation. Iwaizumi tries to ignore his frustration and stay level headed, tries to be calm and mature as they finally begin to talk.   
  
“Fine,” Iwaizumi says after a quiet breath to cool his temper. “Let me correct myself. We need a _white_ mage.”   
  
Silence. Silence and then-   
  
“Is this about the worgen?”   
  
_Of fucking course it’s about the worgen_.   
  
Iwaizumi grits his teeth and tightens his hold on the strap of his pack in an effort to keep from grabbing onto his partner and shaking him. How can Oikawa be so nonchalant about the fact that he nearly _died_? How can he be so casual about the fact that his arm was nearly _ripped from his body_?   
  
“Because I _told_ you that it was not a big deal. I can do some healing and it is not like we are without a Judge, you-”   
  
“I do not _care_ if we have a Judge,” Iwaizumi snaps, self-control breaking. He whirls to the side before he can stop himself and grabs onto Oikawa’s robe, wraps his hand around his partner’s wrist before he can step away. Anger makes him squeeze tighter than he wants and Oikawa jerks with it, tries to yank his arm from Iwaizumi’s grasp. “It doesn’t fucking _matter_ if we have a Judge or not! You could have _died_! Do you not care about that? About being dead and cold and your soul floating in stasis?”   
  
“But I _didn't_ ,” Oikawa snaps right back with a huff, annoyed and irritable and _still_ not recognizing the gravity of the situation. “And, even if I did, it is not _permanent_. We still have phoenix down and-”   
  
“Phoenix down doesn’t fix everything,” Iwaizumi barks out. He has to let go of Oikawa and step away so he doesn’t shove him, smack him into reason. His hands shake at his sides with anger and fear that he cannot seem to push away and Iwaizumi curls them into fists to try to hide it. “It doesn’t fucking fix hacked off limbs or broken bones and neither do _Judges_. Your healing is good for quick pinches but- _gods_ , Tooru- I-”   
  
Iwaizumi grits his teeth together and sucks in a breath to try to calm down, glares when Oikawa fixes him with a stubborn look.   
  
Fucking proud, hardheaded Viera _asshole_. Iwaizumi could throttle him for making him worry so much.   
  
“We need a healer,” Iwaizumi tells Oikawa, again. It comes out rough and frustrated, dangerously close to showing his still lingering terror hiding under his anger. “Our _clan_ needs a healer. Hell, our clan needs more than one healer. You _know_ that.”   
  
At the mention of their clan, Oikawa opens his mouth and then closes it, turns his head away so Iwaizumi can’t see the guilt on his face. Iwaizumi knows it’s there, though, and he knows that it’s probably the only thing to make his partner get the hell over whatever pigheadedness is making him deny the fact that they _need a healer_.   
  
After a moment, Oikawa gives a quiet huff and begins walking away, leading Sunshine by her reins and leaving Iwaizumi behind to stew and glare at his retreating back.   
  
“I will think about it,” Oikawa tells Iwaizumi from over his shoulder, his voice coming out a bit stiff. His ears twitch and Iwaizumi purses his lips but begins to follow after him. “Clanless white mages are not as easily found as they used to be.”   
  
He does have a point; Iwaizumi will give him that. But…   
  
“We’ll find one,” Iwaizumi promises him, voice nearly vicious in its certainty.   
  
Oikawa doesn’t say anything in response, but lengthens his stride instead and the two continue their walk home in frustrated silence. The unresolved argument feels like lead weighing down Iwaizumi’s heart and Iwaizumi tries to calm himself, but he can’t get the image of his lover’s arm caught between yellowed fangs out of his mind nor the frantic burst of lightning that Oikawa had to shoot right between the beast’s eyes to get it to let him go. The stains on Oikawa’s robes don’t help matters and Iwaizumi heavily considers forcing him into the spare hempen robe they have stored in Sunshine’s pack.   
  
That would just cause a bigger fight, though, and Iwaizumi doesn’t think he can argue without it turning into a maelstrom.   
  
They’re close(ish) to home, he reasons to himself. He’ll bully his lover into a bath to wash off the blood once they get there and then bully him to a white mage to check over his wounds and then bully him into agreeing to _finding_ a white mage for their clan once they get home.   
  
And then he’ll bully his lover into rest. Because, _gods_ , does he need it.   
  
Iwaizumi narrows his eyes at Oikawa’s back and narrows them further when Oikawa very subtly flinches after Sunshine bumps into his shoulder. There’s even a stifled hiss that leaves his partner and that’s enough to have Iwaizumi lengthening his strides to catch up with him- silent fighting be _damned_.   
  
“Let me see,” Iwaizumi orders firmly.   
  
Oikawa’s ears twitch with irritation and he turns to Iwaizumi with a honey sweet smile, feigning so much innocence that it’s almost nauseating.   
  
“See what?” the viera asks, voice bright. Iwaizumi gives him a look of both impatience and dissatisfaction and Oikawa’s parody of a smile dips into a pout. “It is nothing. I am just sore.”   
  
“Tooru,” Iwaizumi says flatly, impatiently.   
  
Oikawa purses his lips and, for a moment, Iwaizumi thinks that he’s just going to walk away from him. Again. But then Oikawa sighs and drops Sunshine’s reins, uses that hand to unbutton his robe and push it off his shoulder. It’s a quick, nimble movement and _usually_ Iwaizumi would feel some minor mixture of awe and envy over his lover’s natural elegance, but he’s not quite able to this time once he catches sight of the bruises marring Oikawa’s otherwise flawless skin.   
  
“That...that looks painful,” Iwaizumi comments, throat constricting at all the mottled hues and the blood crusted over his lover’s flesh. “I thought you had-”   
  
“I did not have enough magick to heal it fully,” Oikawa cuts in, tense and sharp. Iwaizumi frowns at him and Oikawa sighs tiredly, drooping and softening a bit as he goes to button his robe up again. “It is fine, I promise. It looks much worse than it is. A potion or two will have it healed easily.”   
  
“Do we not have any left?” Iwaizumi asks, immediately turning his frown toward Sunshine’s packs. He could swear that they still had a few tucked away in them. “I thought we still had a bottle or two left over.”   
  
“We do,” Oikawa tells him, voice strangely absent. “But they are hi-potions and it is not bad enough to waste on…”   
  
Oikawa trails off and Iwaizumi glances back over to him, frowning a bit more when he sees Oikawa looking into the distance with a furrowed brow. He thinks to ask after what has him distracted, but then Oikawa goes rigid with affront- ears stiff and his expression dark.   
  
“There is a disturbance,” Oikawa mutters, taking a step down the path and glaring into the distance. “So close to home and there are those causing trouble.”   
  
He clicks his tongue after and Iwaizumi sighs when he realizes that there’s no chance of getting back to the conversation at hand. Oikawa begins to move and Iwaizumi follows after him, shaking his head and sighing once more.   
  
“What sort of trouble is it?” Iwaizumi asks Oikawa, mentally cursing at how much he has to pick up his pace to keep up with his partner.   
  
Oikawa’s ears twitch and there’s a definite scowl on his face when Iwaizumi checks. Sunshine makes an annoyed noise when Oikawa lengthens his stride- again- but Oikawa ignores her and tugs the chocobo along firmly by her reins.   
  
“Bandits, from the sound of it,” Oikawa informs Iwaizumi, scowl deepening and head tilting to the side as if it will allow him to hear more. “Against...two? No...one?”   
  
He huffs and Iwaizumi feels his own aggravation starting to brew within him, sheer irritation making his hackles rise.   
  
Bandits. In _their_ vicinity. In _their_ region.   
  
The disrespect of it is enough to send him near stalking forward, his hand gripping at his katana.   
  
It can’t be helped, he knows. Every region has their bandits. Every region has their problems. But, still, the thought of trouble being brought into their territory makes Iwaizumi want to grit his teeth, beat the bandits down until they learn their lesson _thoroughly_.   
  
“How far ahead are they?” Iwaizumi asks, breathing in deep to try to calm his aggravation. He is aware it’s more potent than usual, brought on by his still sensitive temperament. It’s something he needs to rein in, lest it gets out of hand- he doesn’t want trouble when he’s so close to getting Oikawa taken care of.  “Can you tell what they are?”   
  
“Close,” Oikawa informs him. “I think...Bangaa? Maybe a Seeq as well?”   
  
Iwaizumi wrinkles his nose and hurries forward, quickens his gait as fast he can without full on jogging or running. Oikawa hurries with him and they walk silently toward the trouble, wrath on their minds.   
  
It’s been quite some time since they’ve had bandits show up in their region. As stubborn and infuriating as Oikawa can be sometimes, he does run the clan well. They have a strong showing in their region and have defended it without pause or hesitation, have driven out bandits and criminals and those that would do harm for years upon years now.   
  
It’s a smack of absolute disrespect to have their peace disrupted and their power snubbed.   
  
They walk for nearly a quarter-mile before the sounds of fighting and screams reach Iwaizumi’s ears. It’s much too far away from them for Iwaizumi to make out, but Oikawa’s face takes on a grimace when Iwaizumi glances over at him and his hand clutches Sunshine’s reins tight enough that his knuckles whiten.   
  
“We hurry,” Oikawa mutters. “Quickly.”   
  
Iwaizumi obeys without hesitation and the two walk in silence, the sound of trouble becoming more and more clear the closer they head to the source. Iwaizumi’s calves burn from keeping up with Oikawa’s pace, but he doesn’t complain and merely focuses on trying to make out what is happening, decipher the shouts that are echoing through the woods.   
  
It’s only when Oikawa yanks him to a stop that he is able to know what’s happening and Iwaizumi finds himself disgusted when he stares down the hill to find the source of all the commotion.   
  
Two Bangaa, one Seeq, and two Humes. One of the humes is knocked out (possibly; Iwaizumi tries to stick with optimism), body slumped against a tree. Iwaizumi thinks he can spot blood dripping from his hairline, scarlet staining his armor. One of the Bangaa has hold of the other Hume- someone small and clothed in white, frail looking compared to the rougher bodies around her. The bastard is pulling her by her feet, ignoring her- _laughing at her_ \- as she shrieks and screams and claws against the ground as she tries to make her way to her companion.   
  
“HE’S GOING TO DIE! PLEASE! _PLEASE_!”   
  
Iwaizumi winces at the yell and nearly hits Oikawa in surprise when his lover grabs onto his arm without warning. Iwaizumi whips his head toward him and almost jerks back at the look in Oikawa’s eyes- dark and sharp and holding the promise of violence.   
  
“Well,” Oikawa whispers, voice low and fingers tightening on Iwaizumi’s wrist, “looks like we found you your white mage, Iwa-chan.”   
  
Iwaizumi opens his mouth to speak, head turning to stare down at the display below. He’s cut off when a cruel laugh is carried up to them on the wind and he snaps his mouth shut, grimacing and narrowing his eyes as the Bangaa moves his hands from the girl’s ankles to her calves, forces her robe up in an uncomfortable display.   
  
“She may have a clan,” Iwaizumi mutters, throat tight as the girl sobs. His hand goes to his katana and he worries for her companion, for her. “We help them regardless.”   
  
Oikawa scoffs in a manner that lets Iwaizumi know he thinks him foolish and Iwaizumi shoots him a quick glare as they begin to hurry down the hill.   
  
“She’s clanless,” Oikawa tells him, voice stubborn. “I can smell it.”   
  
Iwaizumi wants to ask if clanless adventurers have a different scent than those that abide by Judges, but he doesn’t have the time or the patience for it. The bastards are already looking to them and his temper is flaring once more, hand tightening on the handle of his katana as his blood boils.   
  
What filth, Iwaizumi thinks irritably as he lengthens his strides. What fucking _filth_ these bandits are.   
  
The girl does not look up at them but continues to sob, hands outstretched toward her companion and her fingers stirring up dirt. Her robe is soiled from being on the ground and torn from things Iwaizumi does not wish to think on, tears staining the earth and her cries filling the air.   
  
It takes only a few (too long) moments for Iwaizumi and Oikawa to reach them. Iwaizumi keeps his head high and his eyes on the trio, resists the urge to glance over at the fallen man.   
  
They need to handle the bastards first; they can get to the man once the others are taken down.   
  
“Ah, now,” one of the Bangaa coos out, voice rough and cracked, “we weren’t expecting company.”   
  
“Clan Seijoh,” the Seeq hacks with a razor sharp grin. He offers a boy, pudgy body bending awkwardly. Iwaizumi seethes at the motion, seethes at the mockery of respect that the Seeq is trying to pass off as brown nosing. “A pleasure to see you on this fine day. We were just passing through on the way to Targ Wood. How are they? Have you kept the peace there as well?”   
  
“Let her go,” Oikawa orders, voice light and sweet in a way that makes something tingle down Iwaizumi’s spine in apprehension. “I will say it only once.”   
  
“Please- _please-_ he’s _dying_! I _need- please!_ ”   
  
Iwaizumi’s heart clenches at the woman’s pleading and he grits his jaw tight as the trio send Oikawa simpering little looks.   
  
_Bastards_.   
  
“Now, now,” the Bangaa holding onto the woman coaxes, tightening his grip on her when she tries to kick her legs free. His claws dig into her soft skin and Iwaizumi spots beads of blood welling up beneath them, gathering to trickle down her legs slowly. “There’s no need for conflict. We were attacked. We are only getting our retribution.”   
  
What a load of wolf dung.   
  
Iwaizumi looks to Oikawa and watches his lover blink and then sigh, readies his grip on his blade.   
  
“No mercy, Hajime. I am too tired for this,” Oikawa says, voice weary.   
  
Perfect.   
  
Iwaizumi shoots forward right as Oikawa does and the trees and bushes on the pathsides shake violently with the sudden boom of thunder that fills the air. Lighting strikes down just inches to Iwaizumi’s left but he continues on without hesitation, slashing into the Bangaa still holding onto the woman and then smashing his elbow into a temple, a face. The Bangaa falls to the ground with a growl and lightning scorches earth once more, twice more. The air reeks of burning flesh, but it hardly reaches Iwaizumi’s notice- he is much more concerned about the woman fumbling to her feet and running to the tree.   
  
It is all over so soon, so fast.   
  
Fighting bandits is so much quicker than taking down beasts.   
  
He’s glad for it- though, he _could_ hit Oikawa upside the head for not trying to heal his injuries further if his magick had begun to restore itself.   
  
Iwaizumi straightens himself up with a huff and watches as the woman trips over her feet and stumbles onto the man. She’s sobbing and it’s heartbreaking, makes something cold and painful claw through his chest.   
  
It makes Iwaizumi that much more frantic thinking of how his own partner had almost died earlier that day.   
  
“She might be too late,” Oikawa murmurs, joining Iwaizumi’s side. He leans heavily on Iwaizumi, exhausted, and Iwaizumi has to take a breath so as not to scold him for drawing on magick when he was already so low. “His scent is weak…”   
  
Iwaizumi watches silently, sliding his katana into its scabbard as the woman shakes and hunches over.   
  
_“KyouKyouKyou._  
  
Iwaizumi isn’t sure he’s ever heard such pain before in his entire life.   
  
A sob wracks through the air and Iwaizumi thinks to step forward to offer comfort. Oikawa holds him back, though, and Iwaizumi’s shoulders weigh down with a stranger’s grief, his heart grows heavier.   
  
“No,” the woman sniffles. “ _No_.”   
  
Iwaizumi opens his mouth to say something, to say anything- they can’t just stare at her while she cries. Oikawa’s fingers wrap around his wrist as his lips move to form words, though, and it serves as a warning right as golden light flares to life around the woman and the man. He raises a hand to shield his eyes and it’s just in time- for brilliant and blinding white light blazes into existence as soon as the golden light begins to fade, bringing with it a silvery ringing that fills the air and a warm breeze that makes the leaves of the trees and bushes around them shiver and dance.   
  
The light fades in a near instant and Iwaizumi lowers his hand when it’s safe, blinks and then watches the woman’s small body tilt to the side, fall to the ground with a quiet _thud_ . A quiet groan sounds from the fallen man as soon as her body hits the earth and Iwaizumi feels some minor relief run through him.   
  
“She saved him,” Iwaizumi mutters, allowing himself to relax. He feels so weary now, his anger and his energy bleeding out of him at an exhausting pace. It’s been so much, this sudden quest to save others. “Come on, we need to hurry and get them to town.”   
  
“The little one can ride on Sunshine,” Oikawa says tiredly, fingers slipping from Iwaizumi’s wrist as he steps forward to the pair. “Carrying the other will be a lot of work. He looks heavy and limp bodies are not the most obliging.”   
  
“Sunshine can carry him, maybe,” Iwaizumi suggests, following after Oikawa and squatting down to eye the girl. “She carried Kindaichi the other day without too much trouble and we’re not that far from home.”   
  
Oikawa hums and Iwaizumi runs his gaze over a deathly pale face, dirt smeared over soft white cloth, and specks of scarlet flecked across a slender neck. A sick feeling runs through him when he glances down at her hands and finds her nails ripped off, blood staining sensitive skin and cuts and scrapes maring tiny hands. They must have been torn from her when she was trying to get to her companion, when she had fought with all the strength she had in effort to reach him.   
  
She must care for this man very much, Iwaizumi thinks as he carefully moves her to the side so he can pick up the man. He grunts under the weight of the stranger but stubbornly makes his way to Sunshine, smiles apologetically when the chocobo lets out a loud, displeased squawk.   
  
“We’ll give you a nice treat for carrying him,” Iwaizumi promises her. Sunshine flaps her wings in response, but allows him to start trying to haul the man up on her. “Oi, Shittykawa, come help.”   
  
He hears a faint huff from his partner, but Oikawa comes to him quickly enough and begins to help him sort out the unconscious man. Iwaizumi catches the wince that flashes across his lover’s face and takes a mental note to give him a nice treat as well- after a small scolding and a trip to the healer’s, after they figure out how to care for the two strangers.   
  
“Those pieces of trash didn’t have much on them,” Oikawa sighs out as they secure the man so he won’t fall off Sunshine’s saddle. “A paltry amount of gil and a few leaves of echo herbs. Nothing worthwhile. Their weapons aren’t worth taking to the shop even.”   
  
Iwaizumi hums in response and takes a step back, eyes the slumped over man and nods to himself in satisfaction. He stretches his arms above his head and then turns toward the unconscious woman, sighs quietly at her tiny form and the rust colored streaks ruining white cloth.   
  
Well, they did find their mage- just as he had promised. Perhaps if they patch her and her companion up, the two will be added to their ranks.   
  
The thought threads a small trace of guilt through Iwaizumi as he walks to pick the woman up. It makes him feel calculating trying to determine if the supposed clanless adventurers will join them after being taken care of by their clan. He’s not sure if he likes the feeling and it brings discomfort to him, but Iwaizumi _does_ quietly hope that they will join them. He _does_ hope that their clan can get a healer that they so desperately need.   
  
Iwaizumi sighs and crouches down to gather the woman up into his arms. She’s even lighter than he had imagined- too light, he thinks with a frown. It takes a terribly awkward amount of shuffling to find a way to hold her with comfort and Iwaizumi groans mentally when he rights himself into a stand. A hint of color catches his attention out of the corner of his eye and Iwaizumi leans over to peek behind a bush, frowns when he finds a broken staff.   
  
Ah, that’s a pity.   
  
He walks over to it and picks up the two pieces in a clumsy maneuver, grips the smooth wood and sighs down at the splintered and shattered weapon, frowns down at the broken stripes of green and yellow. Iwaizumi does not know all that much about mage staffs, but he _has_ seen one like this around and he’s aware of its cost, the high level one has to hold to wield it. It’ll cost a pretty bit of gil to fix and he has a feeling these strangers won’t be able to afford it.   
  
Well, perhaps they can help with that. That would endear the two of them to their clan more, right?   
  
More guilt ripples through Iwaizumi and he shakes it off the best he can, walks over to Oikawa with a sense of weariness that he knows will follow him the rest of the way home.   
  
Oikawa’s brows raise when he spots the pieces of the staff Iwaizumi is awkwardly holding and he steps forward to take them from him, inspects them with a careful, shrewd eye.   
  
“It can be salvaged,” Oikawa declares after a few moments. “It will cost us a bit too much gil, but the price will not be too horrid, probably. Moniwa owes us a few fair favors; I think we can have it mended without hurting too much over it.”   
  
Iwaizumi hums and adjusts his hold on the woman, looks down when a small whimper leaves her and she presses against him. He takes a moment to pity her and then looks up to Oikawa, offers a tired smile that his lover returns. There are still a few lingering traces of aggravation and upset resting in him, but now Iwaizumi is mostly grateful that his lover is once piece, that _they_ have a Judge and that he’s never been faced with the terror of Oikawa’s life on the balance without one.   
  
“This has been quite a journey,” Iwaizumi remarks. Oikawa nods his agreement and moves to stick the staff pieces in Sunshine’s pouches, grabs onto her reins. “If they are clanless, you will try to convince them to join, won’t you?”   
  
Oikawa huffs and Iwaizumi watches his lips press into a small pout, his chest and shoulders move with a deep breath. He looks close to sulky, but Iwaizumi waits patiently and finally Oikawa shrugs, wraps Sunshine’s rein more firmly around his hand and takes a step forward.   
  
“We shall see,” Oikawa tells him, voice weary. “Let us get home first; I am ready to gather our reward and rest.”   
  
Iwaizumi hums his agreement and takes a step forward as well, watches a flinch pass over his lover’s face and sighs. He keeps quiet, though, and the two begin to head down toward the path, ignoring the charred and bloodied bodies they’ve left behind as they head on home.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi and hello on [my tumblr](https://moramew.tumblr.com/)~


End file.
